Online students of medical billing and coding spend a considerable deal of time, yep, you guessed it, online! No news there. But it was announced today that a new virus threat lurks out there for all denizens of the online world. Since studying medical billing and coding (or really anything else) online means your educational progress could really be stymied by a bad computer infection, it makes sense to stay up to date on the latest threats so you can make sure you’re protected against infection. The latest threat is a so called “trojan” virus which infects computers for the purpose of using your computer’s computing power to mine for bitcoins. Bitcoins are an emerging form of currency which can be used to purchase a growing array of products and services online. From games to illicit drugs, users of bitcoins are attracted to the “currency” because it is much more difficult to trace than regular old “dollars” spent via credit card transactions. Here’s a link to a more in-depth definition of bitcoins. And here’s a link to the story about how hackers are “enslaving” unsuspecting users’ machines to help in the generation of currency which they then use to make purchases. Online students of medical billing and coding spend a considerable deal of time, yep, you guessed it, online! No news there. But it was announced today that a new virus threat lurks out there for all denizens of the online world. Since studying medical billing and coding (or really anything else) online means your educational progress could really be stymied by a bad computer infection, it makes sense to stay up to date on the latest threats so you can make sure you’re protected against infection. The latest threat is a so called “trojan” virus which infects computers for the purpose of using your computer’s computing power to mine for bitcoins. Bitcoins are an emerging form of currency which can be used to purchase a growing array of products and services online. From games to illicit drugs, users of bitcoins are attracted to the “currency” because it is much more difficult to trace than regular old “dollars” spent via credit card transactions. Here’s a link to a more in-depth definition of bitcoins. And here’s a link to the story about how hackers are “enslaving” unsuspecting users’ machines to help in the generation of currency which they then use to make purchases. One Response to “Online Medical Billing and Coding Students, Virus Alert!”
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following the popularity of bitcoins it is no surprise that they are being targeted by criminal gangs, as the there is not much of a trail left behind with the use of these coins. Last week there was a lot of media coverage regarding the industry and the sceptics are still very vocal……but would definitely be interested to review the route this industry is going to take and where they actually go from here….but what is even more interesting is the use of a custom built PC to generate these bitcoins which people are renting out. to read about this means that this movement is something people are taking really seriously….